What is chivalry?
Chivalry is the ancient word for being a gentleman.
What does this have to do with anything?
Well, I've already decided I'm not going to do any long term dating with a pony, for now...
Buuuuuut, if I'm going to let Twilight down gently, then I need to provide her with a date fit for a princess such as herself.
Like a sir, I kneel down, take one hoof in my hand, kiss it, and say, "Shall we be off m'lady?"
Twilight clearly didn't expect that, her cheeks went rosy and she laughed nervously, "Hehe well Uhhhh, the uhhh, hehe... Of course."
I begin walking in the direction of the Ponyville theatre, when suddenly I'm stopped.
"Where do you think you're going?" Asks Twilight suddenly.
"To the theatre?" I ask.
She looks at me like I'm stupid or something, she points a hoof into the sky and I see an empty chariot being pulled by two stallions, did I mention these came from the freaking sky?
"We aren't going to be able to walk to the theatre!" She says.
"Well..." I say, now very confused, "Where is the theatre?"
She trots up close to me and using magic pulls the ticket out of my pocket.
I take a closer look at it, it reads, "Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone"
As well as "The Canterlot Globe Theatre"
Globe Theatre? Shakespeare?
"I'm sorry, Canterlot?" I ask.
"The one and only!" Says Twilight, "It's opening night! Red Carpet!"
It all makes sense now! The fancy dress clothes! The hustle to get me and my date prepared! I had it all wrong! This WASN'T just a date among friends, this was a date among friends plus about a million cameras!
"And... There's going to be lots of important ponies there?" I ask, quietly.
"Tons! Why?" She asks.
"Oh it's nothing... I just, really, REALLY wish I had taken a closer look at that ticket." I say.
"Are you nervous?"
"A little!"
"Why? You never get nervous!"
"Well usually I'm not gonna have the attention of an entire nation viewing my antics."
"Do you not wanna go?" She asks disappointed.
"Oh no, of course I'll go! I wouldn't bail out on you like that, after everything you've done for me." I even throw in a wink, regaining my usual composure.
She rolls her eyes, "Well our ride is here!"
The chariot lands in front of us and I assist the princess in boarding, once again, like a sir.
The stallions driving the chariot look at Twilight, then back at me, and give me a funny look.
I laugh, "What? Ain't never seen a human before?"
They shake their heads and turn their heads back towards the front, in preparation for takeoff.
I climb into the chariot, then look down at my watch.
"Uhh.. Twilight?" I ask.
"Yes?"
"We've got about 20 minutes before the movie starts." I say, "Isn't the trip to Canterlot hours?"
"By train!" Says Twilight, matter-of-factly, "These boys can get us there in a few minutes! Isn't that right boys?"
"Yes ma'am! Fastest in our division!" The stallions shout back in unison.
"How fast can they fly?" I ask, and immediately regret it.
The chariot jolts forward with the force of a full blown jumbo jet!
"HOLY" I shout.
Soon, and I mean VERY soon, we were airborne. It had been years since I had been in an airplane of any kind, definitely the first time in a flying chariot.
I look down over Ponyville, it was a nice little town, I could see the Boutique from up here, I could see everything. The Corner, the Library, Applejacks Orchard, and in the distance I could see Fluttershys cottage at the edge of the Everfree.
There's a blast of sound that seemed to come from in front of the chariot.
"What was that?" I ask Twilight.
"A sonic boom!" Says Twilight, like she's used to it or something.
"I'm sorry a sonic boom? As in we just broke the sound barrier?" I shout, getting hard to hear, because we just broke the freaking sound barrier!
"Yep! The boys aren't supposed to actually be going this fast! They like to show off!" She shouts back.
Soon though they slow back down and I'm able to hear normally.
Once I've fully taken in the enormity of this huge pony world that I've been thrown into. It's a real wake up call, how real this is. I don't think I've fully appreciated it until now.
.....
After sitting in silence for a few minutes, I finally speak up.
"So... that whole musical number? What did you think?" I ask excited.
"It was good." She says.
"Good? I think you mean great!" I exclaim, "I got an A right?"
Twilight pulls a clipboard out of nowhere, it's magic, I ain't gotta explain it.
"Well, while you did meet the standards of the song by getting the entire town to participate, something tells me that you didn't think of that song yourself." She says.
"What's that mean?" I ask.
"It means," her quill scribbles on her clipboard, "B+"
"WHHAAAAT? Twilight! Why do you hate me?" I ask as dramatically as I can.
She laughs, "I don't hate you! I just want you to be original is all! But what's really on my mind, is this. How did you feel? During the song I mean."
I calm down for a second to recall the feeling of the music.
"It felt amazing. Like nothing I had ever felt before, like the music was flowing through me, as corny as that sounds. It was real, I felt empowered! Like I could lift a car!"
"A what?"
"Oh right! A car, it's basically a self-propelled carriage. Some etymology for you, the word car is actually derived from carriage. It's relevant because cars usually weigh a ton or more depending on the model."
"Models? As in there are more than one type?"
"Yes, but that's getting off topic. Is that what it always feels like?"
"Usually, and that surge of energy you were talking about? It's actually a physical change, ponies have been known to do impossible feats while under the spell of music."
"Really?" I ask.
"One time, Pinkie managed to get the entire town jumping onto and across the rooftops of Ponyville, which most of them are considerably high for non-Pegasi."
"Are there any other instances where magic cause people, er well ponies to do seemingly impossible tasks."
She puts a hoof on her thinker.
"Well, one thing I've seemed to notice about Ponyville, it doesn't really seem to happen in Canterlot, but it's odd... But sometimes ponies seem to be able to do ridiculous feats, strangly, if they are of some sort of comedic value. I don't know why it happens, but that's just what I've noticed."
"That's strange, can you give me an example?" I ask.
"Once, the Cutie Mark Crusaders put Big Mac and Cheerilee under the effect of a love potion. In this case a love poison, long story short, Big Mac was able to drag a house clear across town, which simply doesn't make sense, the rope would've long broken before the foundation of the house did. It was funny to watch lovestruck Macintosh reek havoc across town. Though it did cost quite a bit to repair."
"You gotta be pulling my leg." I say.
"Even I'm not immune to it. There was once, when the town fell under the reign of Discord, Rarity thought a huge boulder was a diamond, she and I were able to carry that thing across town on our backs, yet looking back there was no way that we could've done that normally, but Discord found it funny."
"Now wait.. Who's Discord?"
"Discord is the Spirit of Chaos, in the form of a draconequus. You needn't worry about him though, he's on our side now."
"How'd you manage to pull that one?"
"Fluttershy" She explains.
"Naturally..." I respond, "So about this movie? You said it was red carpet?"
"Yeah! Being a princess has its perks you know! With a huge blockbuster like this, I probably couldn't have gotten my hooves on these any other way! I love the book series so I asked Princess Celestia, extra specially nice for them!"
"Wow, that's impressive, and you chose me? The measly human, as a date, doesn't Rainbow Dash love those books? Don't get me wrong, I'm honored, really, I LOVE movies, did I mention I was going to goto school to make them? Anyway, Rainbow certainly would've loved to come."
"Well, I considered Rainbow at first, but I remember what happened last time I took her to a movie." Twilight shudders as she recalls the memory.
"That and being a princess, the paparazzi love to cause trouble. None of the tabloids bother Princess Celestia or Luna, but Cadence and I get harassed if we get caught in the wrong place."
"Celebrity probs?"
"Celebrity probs, and the tabloids have already started rumors about the Elements of Harmony. Mostly between Rainbow Dash and one of the other members, that's why I like to keep her away from the reporters and flashing cameras until she's ready. But taking her here would only encourage the papers to start writing about princess scandals."
"Are you saying that they write about RD and other Elements being in relationships?"
"Exactly."
"And you chose me to avoid the rumors?"
"Partly, I think you're cute."
I feel some blood rush to my cheeks but I quickly shoot it back down. No feelings, it's too soon for that.
It's not that I don't care, or that I don't like her. It's just too soon to let my humanity go completely.
Gentlemanly Ben strikes back, "Why thank you m'lady. May I add that you look rather stunning tonight?"
She blushes and laughs a bit, "Why are you talking like that?"
"Like what? My dear little pony?"
"Like you just got back from the moon?"
"What? The moon?... Some would call it being a chivalric gentleman. Others would call it flirting like an idiot." I say.
"Does that mean you are flirting with me?" She asks growing redder as we speak.
(Is redder even a word?)
"Did I say flirting?"
"Yes, yes you did." She says with a teasing smile.
Lord, this whole "let her down easy" thing is gonna be harder than I thought. Crap.
"CHANGING subjects" I declare loudly, "you said you chose me partially to avoid the start of rumors?"
"That is correct" she states.
"Did you take into consideration that you are bringing a freaking ALIEN to a very populated area, in the middle of a movie debut?"
"I've weighed both options and decided that proving that alien life does exist is by far the better choice."
"Really? Is it that bad?"
"It's terrible, they come up with these ridiculous stories, like once they wrote a story about how the two royal sisters were trying to 'be together' because they were the only ones who were Alicorns, and that no one understood them."
"I thought you said they leave the royal sisters alone?"
"Usually. They don't always write about the Royal Sisters, but when they do..."
"Princest?"
"Princest..."
"Ew..." I say with a shudder, even in freaking pony land, that shiz is messed up.
"What's this particular tabloid called?" I ask out of curiosity.
"They call themselves FIMFiction."
----------
5 minutes later we arrived at our destination. I could already hear the cameras flashing outside. Oh lord help us all.
"Are you ready?" Asks Twilight.
"No!" I say, when my trembling elbow bumps a compartment that I didn't see previously.
The contents go spilling into my lap.
"That's odd, when did that get there?" Asks Twilight.
"I don't know but..." I say, picking up what is laying in my lap, "I am DIGGING these shades!"
I quickly pick them up and put them on, "AWW YEAH!" I exclaim, they fit perfectly.
"Strange," says Twilight, "why would they be fit for a human?"
"Are you kidding me? I don't know whose these were, but I tell you what. Imma be using them!"
"But doesn't it seem odd that-"
"That what?" I ask.
"Well it just doesn't make sense!" She says.
"Oh Twilight, what fun is there in making sense?" I ask.
"... For a second there you kinda sounded like-"
"C'mon Twilight, shades drop in my lap as I'm about to make a red carpet debut with my suit and tie on, I'm more ready than I've ever been! Please don't spoil this for me." I ask.
"Ok... But whatever you do, stay close to me, I don't want to lose you in a crowd. Do as I do."
"Yes ma'am," I say giving her a salute as I put my shades on, ready to jump outta that carriage.
"Ok" she says taking a deep breath, "Three, two-"
"Wait!"
"What is it now?" She asks.
"Are we really counting down to exit a vehicle?" I ask.
She rolls her eyes.
"I suppose you're right. Let's go!" She says opening the door.
Within the first five seconds of me exiting the carriage, all the flashes of lights cease, and everypony is staring, at the human in shades, that looks amazing. I'm positive that's exactly what they're thinking. He looks amazing.
Twilight leads me down the little runway in kind of a hustle to get to the door, before the little pens start writing and cameras start snapping again.
We get to the door, which has a bouncer. A pony bouncer I guess. Who is staring at me, standing almost a full foot taller than himself. He's a pretty big guy. But I'm bigger.
"Uhh... Tickets please?" He asks.
We present him our tickets and we proceed through the door.
I stop and say to Twilight, "Hold on a second."
I turn to the crowd of wide eyed media ponies. Look out over the crowd.
I very solemnly, take off my shades, all eyes on me.
I clear my throat and everypony falls deathly quiet.
I speak up, "The truth is...
...
...
...
"I am Iron Man"
CLICK CLICK CLICK, SCRIBBLE SCRIBBLE SCRIBBLE, LIGHTS, CAMERAS... Yeah, you know the drill.
I smile, laugh and head back inside where I meet Twilight, who is giving me a grave expression.
"Do you know what you have just done?!" She shouts.
"I was giving the good Mr. Stark poetic justice!"
"Who?!"
"Do you like superheroes, Twilight?"
"What does that have to do with anything?! Nevermind! Come on let's go get our seats before you gain international attention!"
We quickly duck into the theatre and Twilight leads me to a booth completely of our own.
"Ooo, fancy!" I wonder aloud.
"The Princess pulled some strings to get us these seats!" Says Twilight.
"Well tell her Iron Man said he was very thankful for her generosity." I say with a sly smile.
"Ok? I will tell her my student thanks her. Who's Iron Man?" She asks.
"His real name is Tony Stark, he is the greatest human being that never lived." I said, "I'll tell you more about him on the way home, I tell you what, I could fill hours just simply talking about him and the Avengers!"
"The Avengers?"
"A kind of team of heroes, oh it's too complicated to talk about right now!"
Then, the lights in the theatre began to dim. Signaling the start of the movie, ponies rushed to their seats, they were all dressed up somewhat fancy. I don't think I've seen this many ponies with their noses up in the air. Odd.
The benefits of the red carpet debut, no silly commercials before the movie. Just nothing but cinematic magic!
-------
The first shot opens up, the camera is panning across the sky, below we see a jungle.
The sun is just shining through the trees.
A voice over, a female, I assume is our hero comes the scene.
"Legend tells us of an ancient civilization that once thrived in the jungles of the East."
The scene changes, we see depictions of strange two legged creatures with tails on the walls of an ancient cave. They aren't human, but look more like blue-ish wolf men.
"These creatures lived in peace and harmony for millennia without interaction with the outside world. With the help of the cryptic power of an artifact called, the Sapphire Statue."
"This statue, with all it's power, controlled the very face of the landscape. In the wrong hands it could turn a thriving culture into nothing more than a pile of rubble."
There's a flash of light, and a cut to another image of a creature, this one stood out among the rest, he seemed taller, stronger, more resilient, more... Aggressive.
"Enter Ahuizotl" the voice over continued, "Ahuizotl ruled over the ancient people during the end of their era."
"Ahuizotl was cruel, conniving, and vicious."
Another flash/cut action showed us a shot of Ahuizotl atop a pyramid, similar to those of the Mayan empire. He stood above the others holding a whip in one hand, and a chain in the other.
"Ahuizotl sought to use the statues power for his own purposes, ruling his kingdom wasn't enough, he wanted the world."
"He had heard of tales from lands beyond the Eastern jungles, lands that held great wealth and power. He planned on wielding the statuette against his foes and taking over."
"He broke into the temple where the priests were holding the statue and attempted to seize it for himself. However, one brave priest stood up to him. The priest took the statue and fled deep within the ancient temple. Setting traps along the way so that Ahuizotl could not find the statue. When the priest had finished his good work, he took hold of the statue one final time, and using its ancient power. He buried the temple and all it's inhabitants. Including himself."
The scene faded to black.
"Until this day no one had heard from or seen this ancient temple. Except from ancient cave drawings and depictions. That's why I, Daring Do, plan on being the one to find it!"
A new scene opened up, a close up on a slip of important papers, they looked like documents.
Then from off camera a large stamp slammed onto the paper.
"DENIED?!" Shouts Daring full of surprise.
"How could you deny me this? This is my life's work here!" Continues Daring.
The other pony speaks up, a male, "The council will not fund another one of your ridiculous expeditions! Especially one that has no historical evidence that even exists to-"
"Historical evidence?! There's plenty right here for you!" She says shoving papers into his face.
"Cave paintings and old ponies tales do not count as historical evidence. For all we know, you could've painted those cave drawings yourself!" He says rejecting the papers.
"But-"
"No buts about it Daring, you've worked here for too long, with not much to show for it. Look..." He said, expression softening. "I can't officially authorize this expedition. But I know that this job is everything you've ever wanted, so here's what I'm going to do."
Daring leaned in to better listen.
"I can't approve this expedition, but if your heart is truly set on this... This... Insanity. Well, I know a guy who can take you to this place."
"Well who is it, boss?" Asks Daring.
"You must understand that this exploration will be solely on you. No funding, no search equipment other than your own. And I'm not able to help you... Officially."
"I understand." She says.
"Now this stallions name is Starlight Cartographer."
"Starlight Cartographer? Sounds like a mouthful."
"Indeed, but staying true to his name, he's an expert navigator, he knows bits of uncharted territory like the back of his hoof. He is an expert mapmaker and navigator, you won't get lost. He may be willing to help you. Now you can find him..."
-20 minutes into the movie-
"Daring! Can you see anything from up there? The map says we should see the treeline by now!" Shouts Starlight.
Daring lifts her trusty hat off her head to better see into the distance, sure enough, within her view is a large wall of trees that seems to expand into eternity.
"I see it!" She shouts as she flutters back down to rejoin her partner.
"Great! We should be at the campsite by sundown!" He exclaims excitedly, he was every bit as interested in this expedition as she was, whenever he first heard about it he jumped on board.
Daring just smiled and lead the way, she found his enthusiasm cute.
She was weary from travel but her unfaltering attitude keeping her moving tirelessly.
The sun soon begins to set in the sky, at least what they can tell from looking up in the canopy. They were now deep into the jungle, they had just finished setting up camp.
She set her hat down inside her tent and began to make a fire. The nights were known to get cold in this particular forest, the last thing she wanted was to freeze to death before she reached her destination.
They ate dinner sitting around the campfire, Starlight was swaddled in a blanket.
"So... What is it about this temple that has you so intrigued, Daring?" He asks.
"I've spent all of my life, believing that there was something out there, that there were constantly things that ponies could never understand or comprehend. My quest is a quest into the unknown, a quest for answers, a quest for knowledge."
"Wow, I never thought that the infamous Daring Do was such a scholar."
Daring laughs, "Well there's a lot of things you don't know about me, Mr. Cartographer."
"So it seems, Ms. Do" He replies, "I like mysterious mares." He winks.
She shakes her head, "Go to bed, Mr. Cartographer."
"Very well," he pours water onto the flame, "we start trekking again tomorrow at sunrise!"
Daring heads into her tent and the scene fades to black.
...
There's a snap of a twig, Starlight wakes with a start.
He steps out of his tent and looks around. It's too dark to see around him. Then he hears another twig.
"Daring?" He whispers, "Is that you?"
He trots over to Daring Do's tent.
"Daring?"
Daring is fast asleep in her tent.
"Daring wake up!"
"Huh? Wha-?" She grumbles, slowly waking up.
"I think something is stalking us." He says quietly.
Daring is immediately awake, she grabs her hat and joins the navigator outside.
They stand back to back facing the darkness surrounding them.
"Starlight, I don't hear any-"
Then all hell breaks loose.
They are hit with a barrage of arrows.
Daring is hit, but is quick enough to duck before a following arrow does her in.
Mr. Cartographer isn't so lucky.
Starlight falls to the ground next to Daring, blood dripping from his mouth.
Arrows are still flying above them.
He's still breathing but barely.
He looks her in the eyes, there is fear written all over his face.
He coughs up blood, "Ms. Do... You have to get out of here!"
Tears are running down her face as Daring sees the full extend of her friends damage.
She makes up a lie, "No come on, you're gonna be fine..." She says quietly.
"No no.. I don't think I'm gonna make it..." He says weakly.
"No Starlight, we're gonna get you outta this." She says through sobs.
"Daring... You have to run... You have to ru-" he is interrupted by a coughing fit.
Blood is trickling from his mouth when we see the light leave his eyes.
I hear a soft sob beside me. I look to my right and see Twilight with tears in her eyes.
I smile, that was kinda cute, I throw an arm around her, she looks at me, confused at first, but then realizes and leans into it.
The volley of arrows cease, Daring using every ounce of strength left to escape these murderers.
Her wing is in searing pain where the arrow hit her.
After stumbling through the dark forest all night, she finally sees the daylight. Her pursuers are nowhere in sight. She managed to escape with nothing but her clothes, her hat, and her life. But completely lost and with no navigator.
Using every ounce of guts she pulls the arrow out of her wing. She wraps it in a bit of cloth she had on her.
Several minutes pass in the theater.
The next few minutes is a montage of Daring Do surviving, traveling far, lost, and alone...
Yet she relentlessly kept on searching for what she had come so far for.
The ancient temple.
As the montage was progressing there came Daring's voice over the scene.
"With my injured wing, I couldn't fly, I couldn't escape. My only option was to keep on moving forward. Unsure of where to go, or where to turn. I had been grounded for what has felt like weeks, it may have well been a few years. Yet no matter how far I ran, or how fast, it seemed that I was being followed. If I let my guard down, the predators that roamed these jungles would undoubtedly pounce."
There came a growl from somewhere offscreen, onscreen Daring turned around to focus on what was pursuing her.
Before she knew what hit her, she was surrounded by jungle cats. Tigers, leopards, jaguars, you name it. They were there.
Then, Daring, being quick on her hooves found the smallest of the big cats and leapt over it with a single bound.
She, running as fast as her hooves could carry her, ducked and dodged between the trees as she ran.
But before she could escape, a large chasm blocked her escape route, and she found herself cornered.
Caught between very hungry cats on one side, and a fatal drop on the other.
But using her keen eyes, she spies a vine dangling across the middle of the chasm.
It was a stretch, but it was her only chance.
Taking two steps back she leapt with all of her might, and grabbed the vine to swing across to safety.
When she landed, she looked out across the pit and saw the predators, gave them a tip of the hat and continued on her way.
As she turned to continue her journey, she was met with a marvelous sight.
"After 60 days and nights, surviving in this Celestially forsaken jungle, I finally found it..."
The camera wheeled around to view the magnificent structure that lay before her.
Daring began to talk to herself, "They called me crazy! HA! Wait till those ponies get a load of this!"
She had come this far, it was too late to give up now. She proceeded into the ancient temple to retrieve the relic that she knew in her heart was there.
"As I peered into the dimly lit entrance, I knew I had to proceed with caution. If the legends were true, then the whole place was rigged to kill anything that tried to pass through it."
As the words left her mouth, she stepped an a seemingly normal slab of rock.
Yup. It's a trap.
Daring ducked just in time to avoid having her head cut in two by three ballistic war axes!
She took off down the long corridor, seeing the door at the end closing shut, if she stopped now, she would miss her chance to prove theories correct!
Before anyone or anypony even knew it was coming, the floor opened up and started spewing flames! Daring jumped over just in time to not be barbecued! Next came, wait... Are those Crocs dangling from the CEILING?!
What the he-?
Then came a volley of arrows! She dodged en like a freaking ninja!
Oh Buck! I was on the edge of my seat!
LOOK OUT! I wanted to scream as spikes shot up from floor!
Daring took off in an all out sprint!
Dodging right! Then left! Then right again!
The huge stone door was nearly shut!
In a last ditch effort, Daring baseball slid underneath the door! Nearly crushing herself in the process!
As she stood up, and wiped the dust off of her, another clicking sound was heard.
"Oh you have GOT to be joking." Said Daring.
She wasn't done yet.
After another round of daring escapes and near death experiences, Daring found herself in a very large chamber.
The sunlight gleamed through a hole in the ceiling, it moved just slightly, to reveal a gleaming object in the center of the room.
"The Sapphire Stone!" She shouted with glee.
She took a step but stopped herself, the floor was loaded with traps! They didn't even make an effort to hide it!
She threw a stone onto one of the tiles, revealing that the stones were set to trigger volleys of arrows that didn't look very merciful.
She lay down and observed the puzzle before her.
Every tile had a symbol for a different animal. But what was the solution to this deadly equation?
"Ah ha!" Daring exclaimed, "These animals are all predators! Except..."
The camera zoomed in on a single tile, a rat.
She cautiously stepped on the tile...
...
Nothing happened.
Daring smiled, she had solved it.
Using the ninja skills she had acquired in the previous rooms, she hopped and skipped her way across the floor!
She soon found herself face to face with the statuette.
Sweat dripped down her face, surely there was a trap set on this thing. But what more could she do than take it?
She swiped it up as quick as she could. When she did, there was a loud rumbling and the floor gave way to LAVA?!
What?
The temple around her began to collapse and the lava began to rise.
She had to be quick. With sheer luck a large column that supported the structure fell in front of her, using it she climbed her was towards the hole.
The lava was almost to her perch, she had no more footholds to get closer to her escape. She had only one option, a leap of faith.
She scrunched down and using all of her might she flew! Without her wings!
She managed to grab the edge of the hole, by her mouth... Her freaking mouth.
That is awesome!
I'm flipping out in my chair right now!
The temple blew up! Sending Daring flying out of the hole, landing in the nearby jungle.
Before she has a chance to recover... A large blue hand comes on screen...
"Ahh.. A pleasure to meet you Ms. Do... My name... Is Ahuizotl."
The creature said with an evil smile.
"Now if you don't mind I think you have something that belongs to me."
He pulls out a, cat whistle? And blows on it. The same cats that were chasing her earlier come out to play.
She's completely surrounded, no escape this time around.
Quick cut to a tie up/trap scene.
The creature known as Ahuizotl is standing by a lever, Daring is tied to a pedestal in the center of the room.
"You can't possibly be THE Ahuizotl! He should've died AGES ago! You really expect me to believe that you're thousands of years old?" Shouts Daring
"There's a lot of forces you just don't understand Ms. Do... Including the powers of this statue. But I guess you won't be around to see it! A shame..."
Ahuizotl pulls the lever. Releasing quicksand, spiders, a sliding spike/wall trap, and yep, you guessed it! Snakes...
I lean over to Twilight and whisper, "Snakes... Why did it have to be snakes?"
She looked at me kinda funny. She clearly didn't get it.
"You'll never get away with this, Ahuizotl!"
"Ahaha! Don't you see Ms. Do? I already have!" He closes the door and leaves Daring Do to her own demise.
Daring has to think fast. The quicksand is already up to her hoof tips.
She looks around, what does she have?
Her hat...
She looks quickly to the lever, using her mouth and hooves, she shoots her hat bouncing around the room.
Daring takes a deep breath as the sand covers her face.
The hat, by some miracle, manages to knock the lever loose and back up. The bindings holding Daring back releases as she erupts from the would-be burial.
She quickly gathers herself up and collects her hat.
Another cut to Ahuizotl, sitting on a throne.
"Now with Daring Do out of the way, nothing will be able to stop me from taking, the world! Ahahaha!"
Then! In a moment of sheer epicosity! I know it's not a word! Daring swings from the trees and swipes the Statuette from the wolf/monkey man and lands on a ledge across the way.
She turns around, tips her hat to Ahuizotl.
"Better luck next time, Ahuizotl!" She shouts down.
Daring takes off running, as she's running, the binding on her wings fall off, revealing a completely healed wing!
In one final moment before takeoff, Ahuizotl calls in the distance, "Curse you! Daring Do!"
And Daring flies off! Heading Westward! Back home!
With that, the movie ends, the credits show and the lights flick back on.
I hear applause from the audience and join in.
I look at Twilight who isn't stomping her hooves. In fact, she looks disappointed.
"Something wrong?" I ask.
"It wasn't as good as the book." Said Twilight.
Story of my life...
--------
As we returned to the chariot outside, the press mostly left us alone, I probably scared them off.
We climbed in, it was late.
I yawned, "Man! What time is it?"
"Pretty late." Said Twilight.
"Well I could guess that." I joked.
"So!" She says, "Tell me more about this, "Iron Man"
...
I spent the next 25 minutes trying to jam hours worth of conversation into a few minutes time.
I told her all the good stuff, like how the Iron Man suit came to be, his epic first battle with Iron Monger. AKA Obadiah Stane.
I told her about how in the second movie Tony was dying and had to find a proper replacement for the element Palladium before the villain Whiplash took his revenge.
I told her about the Avengers, that's a whole conversation in itself.
I spun epic tales of how Tony aided the Avengers in saving New York City, and ultimately the Earth from an alien invasion.
I told her about all the suits he invented.
It's a shame I got pulled over before I got the chance to watch the third movie. It looked amazing.
I told her everything I knew about Tonys Arch nemesis, the Mandarin. And his friend Rhodey, and Pepper, and J.A.R.V.I.S.
Before I knew it. We were back in Ponyville again.
We stopped at Twilights house.
Twilight stepped out of the chariot. I followed her out.
"What are you doing? You know these boys will take you home?" She asks.
I say, "That won't be necessary. I don't feel like going home just yet."
...
Twilight starts to grow red, thinking that I wanted a bit more than just a date-
I hold a hand up, "NOT. What I am implying Twilight..." I say, reading her mind.
"Poor choice of words, I know." I continue.
Let her down gently.
I look her in the eyes, "I don't know about you but I had a lot of fun tonight."
She doesn't say anything.
I cut straight to the chase, "Listen, you know I can't date you right?"
She looks down, disappointed, "Is it because, I'm an egghead?"
"A what? No!" I laugh, "of course not! In fact I think you're really pretty!"
She smiles, hides in her mane, and turns into Fluttershy. Figuratively speaking.
"Listen, it just seems odd to me, maybe I'll get better about it later on but I come from a world where no other animal is intelligent. There are only humans. You know what I'm trying to say?"
She nods her head.
"I'm just trying to hold onto my humanity for as long as I can. But I've been thrown into this world so I'm going to make the best of it."
She says nothing.
I smile at her, "Chin up Twi!"
She smiles back.
"Now today may not be that day," I wink at her, "but maybe someday"
I lean in and kiss her on the cheek, "Stay pretty, my little teacher."
Her face goes crimson, now's the correct time to leave.
As I'm walking away I hear, "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"
I turn and see Twilight kinda peeved.
"You don't kiss a girl and walk away like that!"
I laugh, "Well... You've obviously never met me!"
"..."
She puts on a pouting face.
I turn and keep walking.
"You still owe me a paper about magic!" She shouts.
"I'm on it, Twi!" I shout back.
I walk a bit further.
"And pack your bags!" Shouts Twilight.
"Huh?" I turn back around to look at her.
"As soon as we get done with Winter Wrap Up, you and I leave for Canterlot!"
"What? What for?" I shout back.
"For the Spring Royal Summit! It's where we discuss where and how Equestrias resources are going to be spent and distributed this year! As a Princess I am required to be there! As my student you are coming with me!" She shouts.
"It sounds really boring!"
"It is!"
"Then why are you taking me?"
"Well, there was something I thought you'd be interested in there!"
"Like what?"
"The Starswirl the Bearded wing in the library! And not to mention the collection of magical amulets!" She says, with extreeeeeeeme emphasis on the magical amulets part.
Amulets? Now I'm interested...
"What are you saying?" I ask.
"You wanna do magic?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.
Hook.
Line.
And Sinker.
"YES! That's not even a question Twilight!" I exclaim.
"Now hold your horses! You have to remember! This is strictly experimental! Even Celestia herself doesn't know whether it'll work!"
"Well I suppose I'd better get studying then?" I shout.
"Yep!" She shouts back, "We will be there for a month!"
"A MONTH?!" I shout.
"A month! Don't worry! The Castle rooms are really nice! You will feel right at home!"
"Ok then! It's about time I see the world I guess!" I joke.
Twilight heads back inside her treehouse home.
-------
Spike was waiting for Twilight to walk in, he had seen him kiss her from the window.
Twilight spies Spike with a smug look on his face.
"Soooo. *pfft* how'd it go, Twi?" He says, barely able to contain the laughter.
"I think... I just got dumped." She says, with red still resonating through her cheeks.
"Whaaaaa?" Shouts Spike, surprised as hail.
-------
I walk home... Open the door with the key left under the mat.
I head to my room, untie my tie. Take off my shoes. And lay down, suit and all...
..............
The next morning I am awoken by Rarity, who looks mad as all get out!
Holy shiza! What did I do?
"Ben... I would choose your next words very carefully." She says gritting her teeth.
I shake my head up and down, gesturing a respectful "Yes ma'am"
She pulls up the latest issue of "Equestian Enquirer"
The cover has a picture of myself, the caption reads, "Who is this mysterious Iron Man? And does he plan on starting an alien invasion?! PG. 35"
"Who... Is Iron Man?"
Rarity didn't understand why I was laughing so hard.